Stitched up!
by TheInsomniacWriter
Summary: The four men head to Galdin Quay for a day off between their hunts and trip to Altissia. Just when they thought they'd have a relaxing three-day vacation, a threat appears on shore that they cannot run away from. The bros now have to deal with something different than they're used to...


The light breeze made it a lot more durable in the leather seating in the car. Sure, it was still burning and made sitting in certain positions very uncomfortable, but they had to make do until they reached their destination. Noctis had been yapping and complaining Ignis' ears off until he finally gave in and agreed to take a few days off. Everyone was stressed after the last couple of weeks. They had been hunting, completing tasks for others and mostly camping. Even when they'd reached Lestallum, three people had begged for their help and so their day of rest in between also became a busy day. It wasn't until Ignis opened his fourth can of ebony and Gladios wouldn't even touch his books, that they realised they needed a well-deserved vacation - nonetheless Ignis had denied he needed a break, but they all knew he tried to hide his fatigue and try to stay focused on the upcoming trip to Altissia.

"I can see the sea from here, I really can't wait to start snapping away!" The cheery blond in the backseat stated as he turned on his camera, angling it to make sure he got a good photo of the beach. It was mostly thanks to Prompto that the rest of the group held it together. He was like a little ray of sunshine - or at least that's what Gladio liked to say. He of course, hated the nickname he was given, but soon enough even Noctis started using a butchered but cute version of it.

"Alright Prom, sit down. Your excitement might start rubbing off on Noctis, it could cause him to smile." The shield turned to tell him in a very sarcastic tone. Even he needed a few days off you could tell, yet it didn't stop him from making sarcastic remarks.

Ignis took a right turn and found a nearby parking spot, close to the beach. It was still a bit of a walk, but they at least made it just before lunch time. They had enough time to swim before he'd prepare a feat for them all. Prompto smiled as bright as ever, zooming in on the palm trees and such a deep breath he could almost taste the salt. Noctis rolled his eyes and shifted in his seat a little, hoping his behind wouldn't be burnt by now. Gladios stretched his arms as soon as the car came to a stop. Ignis was the first to leave the car and took off his jacket. He rarely took it off, but due to this extreme heat, he decided it was unavoidable.

"Ahh, I want to catch some big fish today!" Noctis shouted as he wiggled himself out of his shirt and threw it in the car. Gladios shook his head at his sudden enthusiasm.

"But fishing is so boring, how can you enjoy staring and sitting still for so long-" then he remembered more often than not he had to check Noctis' breathing to see if he was still alive - that's how still he'd been sitting. "Aha... Nevermind. Still boring."

"What, you'd prefer something else for dinner tonight, Prompto?" Ignis said, taking off his glasses to clean them. Even the slightest speck irritated him and he cleaned them often to keep his world clear as ever. Noctis ran up to the fishing spot and materialized his rod and threw in the line straight away. Prompto took his camera in hand and walked off to follow his best friend.

"Ah Prompto- wait a minute," Ignis had called after him, the blond halted and turned around. "What's up Iggy?" He hung the camera around his neck to walk back and see what his friend had to say.

"Are you alright in these clothes? You seem a bit... warm. Perhaps you're better off taking off your shirt- ah and use sunscreen." Prompto scratched the back of his head, he really didn't want anyone to see his upper body. It wasn't like he was too skinny, he was quite muscular and was just slim. But the scars and stretch marks from his years before their trip were clear as day. He almost felt like a horrible friend for keeping something so petty, secret from them. But he didn't want to show them the childhood he had and how much he struggled. He sighed and smiled at Ignis.

"I'm fine Iggy thanks, I'll just use sunscreen on my face and arms for now."

"Be careful, you look like you'll burn to crisp in just a sec," Gladios said grinning. And that was true, he had a fair complexion - pale if you will. He was never able to have a tan, he just turned bright red and would peel until the paleness returned. Prompto just waved it off and quickly applied some sunscreen as Ignis had told him and with it still in hand, he rushed to Noctis. Specs had also told him to force the Prince to put some on, knowing he'd regret not doing so a day after. The last time Noctis was sunburned, he moaned about it for days and refused to 'ever go out in the sun again without putting on sunscreen.' Which was kinda short lived, as a week later he fell asleep in the car on their way to Lestallum. Ignis had told him to put sunscreen on his face, but he said he didn't need so. Needlessly to say, his face and arms were bright red. It made a Leiden Tomato pale next to him. The memories made Ignis softly chuckle.

"Nooooct! Put on some sunscreen, we don't want tomato Noct to return." He came up behind Noctis, who'd put down his fishing rod to have a stretch. The blond wrapped an arm around his shoulder and poked his cheek. "Caught anything yet?" Noctis sighed rolling his eyes. He swatted away Prompto's hand.

"Not with your big feet stomping around, Prom." He half-joked. The blond held up the sunscreen in front of the Prince's face and grinned. He sighed in defeat and dismissed his fishing rod. "Alright, alright. I don't think Ignis would leave me alone if I get sunburned again."

"Let me do the honour, Prince." He bowed and opened the tube. Prompto pushed Noctis in a sitting position on the ground and lathered his hand in the lotion. He placed his hands on the Prince's shoulders and began massaging the lotion, he then moved to his chest. He could hear him sigh at his touch, which made him blush just slightly. If only he didn't have a small crush on his best friend, he wouldn't be so easily flustered. He dropped his hands off his chest and drowned in his thoughts, recalling memories of when they were still in high school and spent many days and nights together studying, playing games and sharing almost everything. He missed being back in Insomnia just a little bit.

"Prom? Are you alright?" Noctis had dragged him out of his thoughts and placed his thumb under his chin to lift up his head. "You look out of it." Prompto smiled sweetly and shook his head.

"I'm alright, just thinking..." The blond was interrupted by the shaking ground underneath them. "Ah- I-is this an earthquake?"

"If so, we should hurry away from this mountain. If it gets worse, these rocks will be hailing down on us!" Prompto held out his hand and pulled his friend on his feet. They tried running towards the car, but the earthquake got worse and worse. Noctis couldn't stand on his feet without almost being knocked over and lost his footing in the sand because of this. The blond stopped running and dived onto his knees, there was no way for them to run like that.

Prompto looked ahead, watching people run out of the restaurant, over the bridge onto the parking lot. Gladios and Ignis seemed nowhere to be found, maybe they were seeking shelter. "Hey, maybe we should crawl our way to the car, we'll be much safer in a wide area." Noctis yelled from behind him. The gunman nodded and turned around.

"Noct, watch out!" He found himself yelling as what they feared the most, occurred. A rockslide. From then onward, everything happened to fast- but felt like hours to the two friends. Prompto took a big wobbly leap towards the Prince and pushed him aside, away from the rocks that were detached from the mountain behind them.

"Ugh, Prom-" Noct was harshly pushed away and rolled onto the sand before coming to a halt. He slowly opened his eyes and noticed the earthquake had subsided. He knew he could expect some aftershocks, but for now they were safe. With a deep sigh, he got up and tried to peer through the sand that was whipped into the air.

"Prompto, are you okay? You really saved... my-" The Prince saw a hand sticking out from under a pile of sand and rocks. It looked like someone crushed a big sandcastle. Noctis started panicking and he held his breath, almost as if the air was toxic. His hands and legs trembled as he made his way to his friend. As he dropped to his knees, he tried to stay as calm as possible. Ignis told him people make irrational decisions when they're nearing a panic attack. He took a deep breath and started digging in the sand. The Prince didn't care about his hands getting dirty nor about the hot sand practically burning the skin on his hands, he had to save his best friend. It was as if he was buried deeper than it seemed.

"Think Noct, think," he said to himself and decided to summon his weapon in hopes one of his sword attacks would be powerful enough to blow away the pile of sand covering his body. He took a stance and closed his eyes, he then threw his Engine Blade in the air and flawlessly caught it without looking. He flipped it 180 degrees and forcefully buried the end of it in the sand. A wave of energy surrounded him and successfully blew away the sand surrounding him and left somewhat of a small crater. Opening his eyes he saw a sight he wouldn't wish to his worse enemies. Noctis dismissed his weapon and cradled his friend in his arms, he could feel a panic attack coming up. His eyes swiftly looked around in hopes of finding Ignis and Gladios, but they still were nowhere to be found. Prompto looked bad - no, alarmingly bad. His body was covered in blood, with a split forehead and seemingly broken bones in his legs, it didn't come as a surprise.

'It should've been me... You- you really saved me.' Noctis' breath hitched as he materialised a mega potion, in hopes it would fix him even a little. But to no avail, as the potion was crushed over his wounds. It only very little stopped his bleeding.

"I-I need to get to the car a-and find Ignis." His legs were like jelly but he had to save his friend. Without a second thought, he shoved his arms underneath his legs and behind his back and he lifted him up with ease. 'He really is light...' His thoughts wandered off, trying to calm himself so he wouldn't make any mistakes.

"Yo Noct!" A blond guy yelled up from behind him.

"Do I know you?" He'd replied, raising an eyebrow. Although he swore he'd seen his face somewhere, he couldn't quite place it. The blond's expression somewhat shifted to a hurt one.

"Y-yeah- well it doesn't matter, wanna uh hang out after school?" It made the Prince think. Where had he seen him before? His face was kinda attractive and he didn't look bad in a school uniform... What even was he thinking?!

"I kind of have to study for Algebra, maybe anothe-"

"OH! I can teach you if you'd like? I mean- uh, if you don't mind having me around." He just wouldn't give up, would he? Noctis sighed. Ignis did say he had a meeting with the counsel and couldn't tutor him today.

"Yeah I guess, I don't see why not." He shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets and watched the blond smile brightly. Somehow it lightened up his mood, it was like his smile could light up the darkest of rooms.

"Come on Prom, we're nearly there. Why of all times did I leave my phone in the car now?!" Noctis placed Prompto in the grass next to the car, swiped his phone from the backseat and hastily dialed Ignis' number before squatting down next to his friend.

It took several seconds, which felt like eternity, before his adviser finally answered his phone.

"Where are you guys?! I-"

"I'm truly sorry Noct, we helped most of Galdin Quay evacuate. What is the matter? Are you both safe?" Ignis lowered his voice when he realised Noctis' voice sounded far from alright.

"No, Ignis I- I don't know what to do. I need you both here. Prompto he- I tried to but I couldn't-" There was the panic attack he'd so furiously tried to avoid, he could even feel his heart pounding like it was about to rip open his chest and explode.

"Highness, calm down. Right now, hold your breath and count to five. Then tell me what happened." Noctis did as told and looked at Prompto's face, his expression showed pain.

"The earthquake, we were a little too close to the mountain and somehow- a- a rockslide... Prompto saved me but got hurt. I think he's severely injured. We're at the car right now and I need you guys here back now." His calm mind had returned and sounded a lot more mature all of a sudden.

"We'll be on our way, try to look for any dangerous open wounds and stop the bleeding. We'll be on our way." With that, he hung up. Noctis stared at his phone for several seconds before he chucked it away. He gulped and slowly tried peeling off his shirt. He had never seen him without a shirt on, ever. Whenever he brought it up - of course in a casual way - Prompto would just say he wasn't confident and wasn't 'built like Gladios.' The blond's shirt was already ripped in three places, so removing it was a piece of cake. Once he completely removed it and had gotten a towel from the car, he carefully dabbed his chest to get rid of most of the blood. As he moved from his upper chest down to Prompto's sides, he uncovered something he really didn't wish to see. Was this something he kept hidden from him for all those years? Noctis bit his lip and grazed his fingers over his left side, which was covered in stretch marks but mostly, scars. They were long white lines, mostly parallel to one another - some were crisscrossed and reached to his upper hip. The Prince felt a pang of guilt. Was Prompto in pain? His best friend and he never even knew?

He wiped his forehead with his free wrist and took a deep breath. He looked at his friend's body, still without a clue as to what to do about this when he'd wake up. Should he ask about them? How would you bring up something like that? Noctis gulped and wrapped several bandages around his waist, mainly for pressure. In the distance he heard Gladios yell out to them. Relief washed over him and he closed his eyes. Fatigued slowly washed over him, mostly because of this traumatic sight of his best friend severely injured. In under a second, he also slipped into unconsciousness and dropped down next to Prompto. The Prince could barely hear the voices call out to him as he welcomed a deep sleep.

Chapter Management

Chapter Text

The feeling of a rocking car underneath him woke up the Prince. He was strapped in the backseat, with a piece of clothing in his neck - presumably to keep it from falling to the side. His head hurt and he vaguely remembered what happened. He touched his forehead, it was was lightly bandaged. Noctis groaned due to this pinching headache, which caught the driver's attention. "Noct, are you feeling alright? Do you remember what happened?" Ignis said, peering at him through the rear view mirror.

The Prince looked around, trying to have a sense of his surroundings. He slowly nodded and looked down on a sleeping Prompto who's head was on Noctis' lap. "I'm terribly sorry if this might be uncomfortable. But his wounds are too severe to have him sit up. We're currently on our way to the hospital."

"Great job on bandaging the kid, Noct. Gotta say, I didn't expect you to collapse like that." His shield commented looking over his shoulder. His voice was filled with empathy and understanding.

"Ah, well, good thing Ignis forced me to take First Aid in high school, otherwise I might've... failed." His eyes locked onto Prompto again, it looked like he was sleeping peacefully. The following fifteen minutes were dead quiet. Nobody spoke as if any type of sound could wake up sleeping beauty.

Once arriving after roughly a total of thirty minutes, Ignis and Gladios both stepped out first. Gladios opened the car door and lifted up Prompto as if he weighed nothing - now, he kind of did weigh next to nothing, but that was a story for later. Ignis walked to Noctis' side to open the door as he held out his hand. "You hit your head quite bad, are you alright to stand up or do you require help?" Noctis sighed, he felt a little light-headed but wouldn't think he needed help. He gripped the car and slowly rose to his feet. His head touched the bandaging again, the headache had returned. "You may have a concussion, let me help." Ignis slid his arm under Noctis' armpit and pulled his arm around around his own shoulder. With a grunt coming from the Prince, all four made their way into the hospital. As they entered the building, they realised how crowded it was.

"Wow, it seems like the earthquake dealt a great deal of damage," Noctis mumbled mainly to himself, but Ignis had heard him.

"Gladios and I were at the diner, checking out the meals when it happened. We were quick to action and evacuated everyone to safely just in time, I doubt there were that many casualties. Although- Lestallum may have been less lucky." They found a free seat and Ignis sat Noctis down. Gladios had already found a nurse to take care of Prompto, mainly because his injuries were quite severe. The Prince watched the nurse gather a few doctors and had him laid down on a brancard and rushed him into the ER. Gladios walked up to them with a grim look on his face.

"They said he is in no immediate danger, but they'll need to treat his wounds right away - he lost a lot of blood..." He sighed and changed the subject. "Noct, is it alright if I go check up on Iris? My sister is in town and I need to know if she's safe." All Noctis could do was nod in understanding.

"It's alright, we'll take it from here. Thanks Gladio." Ignis was always acted as the mature one, sure he was scared - like everyone else, he has emotions. But he was better at hiding them and staying calm in situations like this. They waved off the Shield as they waited in the waiting room. Most people had come and by in the what looked around 4-5 hours. They both rarely moved an inch, waiting in anticipation of their friend's wellbeing. All Noctis could think about was what he saw. He couldn't shake off the self-inflicted wounds on his best friend's body. He had no clue the blond had been suffering. Although most scars seemed old, some were still red. Should he be worried about those too? Maybe he was still struggling, but why wouldn't he talk about those things with Noctis? Was he ashamed, scared or maybe he thought his best friend wouldn't understand?

"-ctis?" The Prince's head jerked up. "Ha? S-sorry I uh-"

"Were you lost in thoughts? I'm sure Prompto will be alright. He's not quite as weak as he seems."

"Hey Ig, d-do you think something's up with Prompto?" His adviser raised an eyebrow.

"I beg your pardon?" Noctis just sighed and looked toward the doors were Prompto was getting operated behind.

"Has he ever... seemed off to you? Sad?" He was afraid to say too much to his adviser, but he wanted to know if it was something only he hadn't noticed.

"Everyone has emotions, Noct. Surely he's been sad before or in a rough situation-" he eyed the Prince carefully before continuing "perhaps, when the time is right, he'll tell you if there's something bothering him. But for now, let's hope he'll recover soon." Ignis was right, as always. He couldn't let his thoughts and emotions run wild, even if he couldn't help it. It was his best friend for Six sake! Or- maybe Prompto didn't think so.

Noctis sighed and decided to shake it off for now, him being nervous always got him to overthink everything. He looked around, noticing it had gotten more quiet. A lot of people had been helped already and went home or got picked up by family. Most of them resided in Lestallum itself anyway. If only it didn't take so long to get to Altissia. They could've been there by now if they didn't have a thousand errands to run and hunts to take to earn some gil. If only that damn boat would've taken them. They would've been in the city, enjoying themselves before his wedding- right, his wedding. He was to wed Lady Lunafreya, though he could barely remember what she looked like. Long blond hair, a dress. But her face... He forgot. Although they sent letters to one another, he wasn't so sure if he felt that type of love for her. He had such mixed feelings, he felt like the only reason they were getting married was because of the treaty. Peace between two nations... because of a damn wedding. Noctis let out a groan, which caught Ignis' attention.

"Are you alright, Noct?" He looked at his adviser and bit his lip.

"What- what happens after I marry Luna? Like, is that the end of our... trip?" Ignis simply adjusted his glasses and stared in front of him.

"Isn't that a good thing? We'd still be, of course, by your side until the end. Is there anything wrong?" The Prince scratched the back of his head. He wasn't sure what to respond to Ignis' answer, nor had the time to as the ER doors swung open. A female doctor with a long coat, walked up to them with a clipboard in hand. She looked at them both, instantly recognising them.

"Ah, you must be Prince Noctis, pleasure. Are you two here for Mr. Argentum?" Ignis nodded and waited for the woman to speak up again.

"One of you is allowed to see him, he's stable and awake. Though he's still pretty weak and will need quite a lot of resting for the upcoming days." She looked at Noctis, who looked like he was about to jump her from joy. "... He's not in a life threatening situation anymore." Ignis knew he wouldn't stand a chance, he knew the Prince wanted to see Prompto. They all did - but he was his best friend after all.

"Ignis, I'll be back soon." With a nod, he got up and presumably went to the cafeteria to get his fourth can of ebony. If that man would fall asleep that night, it would be a miracle.

Noctis entered the room and his eyes landed upon a dazed blond. He instantly jerked up, seeing his best friend. "Noct," his voice was hoarse and he seemed a little out of it - of course he would be, he was severely drugged up.

"Prompto!" He almost dashed to his friend's side. He took Prompto's hand in his own and bit his lip. The blond noticed he tried to fight back tears and tried to lighten up the mood. "Yo, I-I'm fine haha. How long have I been out for? I only vaguely remember what happened."

"I don't know, I didn't count the hours... I'm glad you're safe now." A single tear left his tear duct and landed on Prompto's hand, he instantly froze. A blush creeped up his face and he looked away.

"W-were you really that worried?"

"Of course! We all were! I was so worried, I kept yabbing Ignis' ears off and I was overthinking again. I really care about you and don't know if I could go on without you by my... side..." The Prince realised what he'd said and turned blood red. Prompto blinked furiously and grinned back.

"You know I won't ever leave your side, we're best friends." Noctis felt a stab, friend, he thought. Why did it hurt so much when Prompto said it?

"Noct? You in there?" He helped him out of his trance which made the Prince realise something.

"Hey uh, Prom?" He awaited an answer from his friend, but nothing came. He dreaded the silence, but what he dreaded even more was having to ask what was bothering him. The mental image of his scars burned in his mind. His eyes dropped to the floor.

"Y-yeah?" Noctis tried to find the courage to speak up.

"Are you okay?" A thick silence surrounded them again before Prompto started laughing.

"Well other than waking up in the hospital after hours of surgery and being high on a lot of medication - I guess I could be considered okay," he snickered a little, not realising what his friend meant.

"No, Prom, I mean are you okay ?" He squeezed his hand and watched the blond's expression change.

"I-I guess you saw huh? I mean it was unavoidable, seeing as my chest was used as a dart board," he smiled at his own joke. "I've... had in rough, in middle school... High school a-and even after." His gaze shifted between a worried Noctis and the window. "I'm - I guess I wasn't ready to tell you yet."

"Don't you trust me?" Pang, Prompto felt guilty. A sentence that broke a piece off his heart. He wasn't sure what to say to that, of course he trusted him. But he was afraid it'd push away his friend, nobody wants to keep a broken toy - they get disposed of. He didn't want to land in the trash, he felt irreparable.

"I was afraid you wouldn't want me by your side if you knew. I wanted to hide myself from you - you always said you adored the happy-go-lucky side of me. So I decided to completely mask my damaged side so you would keep smiling." Noctis bend over and put his head against his friend's chest. Prompto could feel his chest warming up, his friend was silently crying. He wrapped his arms around the Prince and closed his eyes.

"B-but you mean so much to me, I want to know what you've been thinking - feeling too and what's going on in your life." Noctis sounded more mature than he wanted. He felt Prompto's chest rise fast and fall slow.

"For years before we even met, I struggled with my weight. Often I was home alone and my uh family left money for me to buy food. Of course at that age, I never learnt how to cook and I got fast food more often than not." He giggled at the flashbacks in his head, he was really about to spill his thoughts, feelings and past with someone he had more feelings for than just friends. But - did he want to? He didn't want to like Noctis that way, he was engaged, about to get hitched. Maybe he'd go back to meaning nothing once he gets married and becomes the new King of Lucis. His breath shuddered at the thought.

"I-it really isn't that important. You shouldn't care so much for someone like me. Y-you have Luna, I'm just you know... Prom." Noctis gazed up, feeling broken eyes lock onto his. He brought his hand up to Prompto's face and wiped away the tears with his free hand.

"I'm basically marrying her as an act of peace, I'm not so sure if I love her the way I should. Someone else could make her much happier, I think - I just like her as one of my dear childhood friends." The blond was shocked with his reply, he'd always thought he loved Luna more than life itself. Although they always teased Noctis, they never asked what he thought of her or how he felt.

While they both looked at each other in silence, Prom found tempted to crush his lips upon his friend. And so, he did. He slowly sat up and placed his head against Noctis' before lifting up his chin and bringing their lips closer. "I shouldn't be... happy to hear this - but I am. I'm so sorry Noct, but I've lived at the sidelines more than enough. If you can't return my feelings, I-I can live on." The Prince looked at Prompto's hands, which were covered in scratches - but he decided not to bring that up now, in case that would ruin the mood. He felt relieved and happy that Prompto felt this way, but it was short lived as both Ignis and Gladio entered the room just as they lips touched.

"Heh? I can't say I'm surprised, but boy you guys have guts." They swiftly turned around to see the Shield walk up to them with arms folded and a grin plastered on his face. Ignis had simply turned 90 degrees and looked beside them, adjusting his glasses.

"I-Uh, what are you guys doing here?" The blond almost squealed when Ignis immediately responded. "Noctis was away quite some time, so we decided to see if something was up - the doctor was kind enough to let us in for a short time.

"If you guys are done being cutesy, we have to let Prom rest. You should be dismissed by tomorrow noon, blondie," Gladio stated and left the room with Ignis, waiting just around the corner for Noctis to return, so they could have a word with him.

The Prince sighed and they both chuckled at what just happened. "So, you m-mean all this? You don't despise me?" Prompto bit his lip and waited for his friend to speak up.

"I do, I was afraid to admit to my feelings, thinking you wouldn't ever think of me that way - besides I'm getting hitched. I always thought I loved Luna, but over the years - I grown too fond of you and uh yeah." He scratched the back of his head. "J-just wait til tomorrow when you're out of here and we can properly talk." The blond nodded and smiled at Noctis before he waved goodbye.

Once the three had left the hospital, Ignis broke the silence as they entered the hotel room in Lestallum. "I see you finally gave in to your feelings. We were quite shocked but seen this coming." Noctis blushed from ear to ear and cringed a little.

"Don't worry kid, he's had the hots for you for a while now and the way you acted with him - it didn't go unnoticed." The Shield smiled, but his expression saddened a little shortly after. "Although you are to wed Lady Lunafreya, it's necessary for the peacekeeping.

"I think the best one can do, is explain your best and let the Lady know about your feelings. You can't hide forever." Ignis, the smartest of the group as always. He sighed and looked at his friends, he was slightly surprised that his friends were so supportive, especially because Prompto was a guy.

Prompto was dismissed and the guys went to pick him up. They all made some small talk on their way to the hotel and it felt like nothing even happened. Ignis wanted to buy some ingredients for their 'welcome back' dinner and Gladio decided to leave the two of them alone and went along with Ignis. It should give them a few hours to talk things through. Noctis had made time to write a letter to Luna, explaining everything from beginning to end. It wasn't a long letter, he wasn't good at writing those after all. But he did mention he loved her with all his heart - just not in the way she might have hoped. Once he called upon Umbra to deliver the letter, he and Prompto were now alone in the hotel room.

"I guess I'll just get straight to the point," the Prince took a deep breath and placed his hands upon his friend's. "Why did you... do that to yourself?" Prompto immediately know what he was hinting at and placed one hand on his side.

"I told you about - well how I struggled when I was fat. I got bullied in middle school, to the point it made me stay home from school. It was before I met you really - and I guess after as well. I was ashamed, afraid - I thought you wouldn't want to become my friend if I were so disgusting. Well, the bullying got worse, they sometimes locked me in the bathroom stalls or pushed me in the swimming pool in the sports area and... You know, just a lot of things. I was tired of living, I had ugly stretch marks and I was in a lot of pain. I thought that physical pain could overcome mental pain. I read up about these things - how to numb the mental agony I was in. A-and that's how it started." He looked away, he was ashamed of himself.

"I don't care what size you are, you're Prompto. I saw you in middle school too, but you seemed so - to yourself, I guess that I was afraid to make a move myself. If I'd know that all those years you..." Prompto sighed upon hearing this and finished the sentence for him "-hurt yourself, right? You can say it."

Noctis scooted closer to the blond and tucked at the hem of his shirt. "Eh...," he bit his lip and lifted up his shirt. Most of them faded significantly but were still visible while some looked new. "You're still beautiful to me Prom. I don't want to see you hurt." He pushed his friend on his back on the sofa and hovered over him, eyeing a shy and embarrassed Prompto. He tried to hide his red face, but Noctis pulled away his arms and pinned them above his head. "Listen to me, we're all here for you - not just me. But I am always here at your side and I- I-" He stuttered, trying to say the words that formed in the back of his head. "U-uh, I love... you." He muttered. But Prompto had heard what he said and smiled widely, tears streaming down his face from happiness.

"I'll get you through this, Prom, no matter what. You shouldn't have to put up a front for me, I want you to show and tell me how you feel. Only then I can help you." He brushed the scars on his friend's side with his free hand, earning a soft sigh from the blond underneath him. A blush creeped up Noctis' face and brought his face closer to Prompto's, who didn't mind at all being pinned to the sofa from the expression that was glued to his face. He felt his friend's lips brush his own and he opened his mouth, waiting for the future King to slip his tongue in. They wanted this moment to last forever. Unfortunately the click of an unlocking door woke them from their trance and Noctis jumped up and lost his balance, falling over his friend landing face first on the carpet.

"Told ya Ig, we should've knocked first." Ignis sighed and placed the grocery bags on the kitchen island and helped Gladio with his. "Perhaps, you could tone it down a little. For you are still awaiting a reply of Lady Lunafreya."

"D-do you guys, uhm approve?" Prompto silently said with a high voice. Both the adviser and Shield stopped in their tracks and turned to face the blond, who seemed to die of embarrassment.

"We're not against it, you're a good guy - and we want the airhead over there happy too. We already knew this was coming, from the beginning we knew he didn't love Luna that way. Even the King knew." The last four words made Noctis gasp.

"Y-you mean dad knows? " He almost cringed at himself for asking. Ignis walked up to Noctis and placed a gloved hand on his shoulder.

"He's known from the beginning, it is merely a wedding for the sake of the nations - perhaps it's a good time to tell you what we know." Both the Prince and blond raised a brow, confused as to what they meant.

"Ah, yeah uh. So Luna fell in love with someone else. A Kingsglaive from Lucis was send to guard her on her way to Altissia, his name was Nyx I believe? She didn't want to tell ya lot, in case it could cause problems. She's prepared to marry ya but her heart lies with him." Noctis couldn't believe his ears, he felt sad, relieved but mostly happy.

"So that should answer ya question, blondie. Now, dinner should be ready in two hours, maybe you should rest up a bit." The Prince took his friend's hand and helped him up his feet slowly, then guided him to he bedroom, earning some a chuckle from the Shield. He rolled his eyes and closed the bedroom door.

"So, what does that make us? Secret lovers?" Prompto smiled softly as he was tucked in bed. His friend looked out the window and blinked a few times. "I suppose," he answered and gazed at the blond.

"From now on, I don't want you to go and hurt yourself on my watch. If something is wrong - you tell me. If you can do that, it would make my purpose a lot easier as you boyfriend." Prompto squealed in surprise.

"My main role is the King of Lucis, but with you by my side I can handle everything along the way. I'll be your King, your best friend and your lover - i-if you allow me."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Prompto's smile seemed to light up the entire room and Noctis' heart fluttered. He quickly pecked the blond on his lips and made his way to the door.

"I'm here for you, always. If you're struggling or need you know, someone to talk to - you know where to find me. Now get some sleep, nerd." Prompto laughed at the nickname and lied back down, hugging his pillow.

"I love you too."


End file.
